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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Salt Fork Saturday Too Nice Not to go Long

Actually,my yesterday was only about one mile longer than I had planned on. I started out on the Shadebush Trail, which was two miles over to the Lodge (and back). To my surprise, I felt kind of sluggish-not my normal joyful self out there. Still, I plodded on. To my surprise, I encountered two runners heading toward me-must have been guests at the Lodge, as I never see anyone on these hiking trails.

The trail ended right below the Lodge parking lot, and I jogged over to the lot just to see the distance-0.1 of a mile. I know I had not mentioned this before, but there is a 1/2 trail marathon being planned for February 2011. This would be a nice loop out from the Lodge.

As I headed back from the Lodge, the endorphins kicked in along with the Beastie Boys on the Zune. As I ended that trail at four miles,I decided to head down the road to try the “Green” Bridle Trail. I had not been on this before, and decided to run down it about a mile and then turn back.

So you know where this is going right? I’m having such fun on the new trail that I’m already at 1.2 miles when I glance at the Garmin. Then I recognize the pine grove ahead, and I know the Green Trail will intersect with the Purple Bridle Trail-which will then also intersect with the Shadebush Trail. My only wildcard is I’m not sure how far down the Purple Trail will be before I intersect the Shadebush.

It turns out not so much, about a mile or so. This could be a good option of a loop for the trail marathon next year-this loop ends up at around 7.3 miles from the Lodge.

I had brought my pear-kale juice with me as my recovery drink. It seemed to hold up well, and was quite the tasty treat afterwards! The real tasty treat though, was the 40 degree temperature, and the sun shining through the cloud cover on occasion!